


Fiends

by kayethespade



Series: Kiari Ryder [3]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Feelings, Gen, Minor Angst, Pre-Poly, nb!ryder is custom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 09:02:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10510572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayethespade/pseuds/kayethespade
Summary: Kiari speaks very differently when she's in work mode. Jaal and Liam are easily distractible. No spoilers in this one!





	

Kiari continued along the already driven paths of Eos. She had finally gotten used to the Nomad's controls, having never driven before a few weeks ago. This was much to the horror of Cora and Vetra at the time. At the moment, however, Liam and Jaal took up the seats next to her.

She smiled to herself as she thought about the time she'd driven off of a cliff. Cora had told her she was just like her father in that respect. If that was the only thing she ever got from him, Kiari would be happy.

"Hey Kiari," Liam began. She hummed in acknowledgement. "What was it like on Earth where you grew up?" He'd made a habit of asking about her old life to pass the time. Jaal seemed to enjoy these talks. At least he stayed awake for them most of the time.

"It was metropolitan, but not overly large. If you drove for half an hour or so, you could still find yourself away from civilization. Scott and I often did. Mom wanted us to spend some time outside when we were younger. She'd take us to this park outside the city. Sometimes I looked for local wildlife to study. Sometimes I practiced my biotics. Sometimes I rolled down this big hill until my clothes were covered in dirt and grass. Mom made me wash my own clothes when that was the case," Kiari retold.

She pressed down on the brake when she saw slow, lumbering movement. She felt her teeth grit. With a huff, Kiari got out of the Nomad and took out her shotgun with practiced precision.

"What is it?" Liam muttered as he hopped out as well.

Kiari was going to say something witty, but at that moment, a mountain charged at her.

"Oh fuck! Fiend! Scatter!" she yelled. Kiari aggressively jetted away from the fiend, continuing to walk backwards as she unleashed hell on the monstrosity.

She got the chance to glance to the side. Those two idiots were looking on in awe.

"You two gonna stand there and look pretty all day or am I gonna have to do all the work?" She punctuated her question with a biotic throw to get some distance.

They opened fire just as her shotgun ammo ran out. Kiari instinctively switched to her pistol and kept pulling the trigger until the fiend reared back and died. She holstered her weapon and leaned forwards with her hands on her knees. Kiari pounded hard on her chest to get her heart beating regularly again. That accomplished, she straightened herself up and glared over at her squad.

"So...you think I'm pretty?" Liam teased.

"I hate this so much. God I hope that navpoint is soon," she grumbled. Kiari tried to take a step towards the Nomad, but ended up sitting on the ground with a small puff of dirt.

"Are you alright?" Jaal asked.

"Let's go with that," Kiari sighed. Jaal offered a hand to help her up. She took it and pulled until she was standing again.

"I can drive if you need a break," Liam suggested.

"I should be fine in a few minutes-" She shot at one of the bug things without even looking, blowing the steam off the tip of her pistol as she climbed back in.

Liam leaned over to Jaal. "Did you think that was hot, or was that just me?"

"She is...certainly talented," he muttered back.

"Get in the Nomad before I leave both of your asses!" Kiari ordered.

"Yes, Ryder!" Liam replied, sprinting into the vehicle and over her lap to settle back in his seat.

"I could have moved, you know," she grumbled. Kiari proceeded to get out again so that Jaal could get in, gesturing grandly in frustration. He climbed back in with a small thank you. She mumbled to herself a little before pulling herself back into the driver's seat.

"Even Habitat 7 was easier than that," Kiari said.

"You died," Liam laughed.

"And?"

"...Fair point," he muttered. "Sorry for hesitating there. You're cool to watch in a fight." The vehicle lurched forwards as she hit the gas.

"That wasn't a fight. That was me running backwards and using my jumpjets until you two decided to, perhaps, step in. Cursing the whole way," Kiari joked.

"I've never heard you use some of those words," Liam laughed.

"I hate those things with a burning passion, Liam. They eat ammo like candy," she sighed. "Plus I can't just shoved my omniblade into them and have the thing die. Really inconvenient."

"Are you always this morbid after a fight?" Jaal asked.

"Oh, that isn't morbid. I had a friend back in high school who did gorey special effects makeup. Taught me a few tricks," Liam said.

"I never really got into a lot of makeup. It took too much time and money to practice. Time and money I didn't have," Kiari replied.

"You never had a job as a teenager?" Liam asked.

"Your societies employ children?" Jaal countered.

"After sixteen or so, people generally start getting a job and learning how to drive while they're still in school. For the latter two years of high school, I spent my time split between Earth and the Citadel. I was trying to use my father's influence to get some salarian scientists to find a cure for my mother's disease.

It...didn't work, obviously. I was able to get them to begin research on it, but they couldn't work fast enough to save her. Scott was with her when she died. I was in transit. Dad was still on the Citadel. Scott told me that Mom had said she was proud of me. I'd graduated two years early so that I could work on this for her," Kiari explained. Her knuckles were white from the tightness of her grip on the steering wheel by the time she saw the movement of kett and remnant in the distance.

"Get out here. Go in quiet," she whispered.

They followed her until they could find suitable cover. Kiari popped out and took the first kett down. She systematically ended the remnant before focusing on the shielded kett. Liam and Jaal downed the lesser kett and took a few shots at the shielded kett until the battlefield was quiet again. Kiari grabbed a datapad with the information she needed and headed back to the Nomad.

She motioned for the two of them to climb back in and took the driver's seat again.

"You spent two years lobbying to help your mum?" Liam asked.

"Hey, eventually the dalatrass asked if I'd like to be on her staff. I said no, but there was a lot I could do in terms of bargaining," she answered. Kiari called in the Tempest to pick them up. That was their last side thing for the day.

"I don't know what I would do if Sahuna were ill," Jaal muttered.

"Is that your mom?" Kiari asked.

"Yes, my true mother. I doubt even illness could keep her down, however," he sighed.

"Yeah. Same with mine. She carried on with her café in the morning and biotics research in the afternoon until the day she died," she laughed. "I wish she could have seen all this."

"Dangerous wildlife and nearly dying?" Liam asked. She didn't laugh.

"No. This. Andromeda. Just...all of it," Kiari said. "She would have wanted to. Just for views like this." She gestured out the front window at the remnant base. There were still corpses and burning pieces of metal scattered across the scene.

"I can see it," Liam muttered.

"Pathfinder, the Tempest is here for extraction," SAM alerted.

"Beam us up, Scotty," Kiari sighed.

"Wait. You like Star Trek?" Liam interupted.

"Yes, I know. It's cheesy, but I love it. The fact that it inspired so much technology on its own is enough to give it a lot of merit," she answered.

"What is it?" Jaal asked.

"Mid to late twentieth century science fiction. It was before we'd developed space travel, and everyone was wondering if there was even other life out there. So...people speculated and made a bunch of stuff for it. Star Trek is this vid franchise about human explorers in the then distant future that became really popular," Liam explained.

"Hmm. Can I watch it?"

"Yes! All three of us. Star Trek marathon. Tonight. We're doing this," Kiari determined. She clung onto the steering wheel as the Tempest got them into the cargo bay. Once the pressure was stabilized, Kiari got out and stretched until her back popped.

"I'm gonna go shower. See you guys in a bit," she sighed.

Liam and Jaal watched her leave. "Are you weirded out by how comfortable she is around us?"

"Is she not this way with the others?" Jaal asked.

"Not as far as I can tell," Liam muttered.

"Interesting."


End file.
